Method for ballast tamping a railway track

ABSTRACT

Prior to immersion into the ballast, a hand tamper ( 1 ) for tamping a track is detachably connected to an anchor element ( 10 ), fixed to the track ( 9 ) and lying opposite with regard to a tamping motion ( 18 ), by means of a fixing member ( 15 ) fastened to a tamper section ( 6 ) situated between a drive motor ( 3 ) and a tamping blade ( 5 ). Thus, an improved compaction effect can be achieved.

The invention relates to a method of tamping a track by means of a hand tamper.

Well-known hand tampers are gripped in an upper section comprising the drive and have a vibrating tamping blade which is immersed into the ballast. During the immersing operation, one tries to achieve a compacting motion with the tamping blade in the direction towards the sleeper by lowering the upper drive section in the direction towards the operator. The compaction effect resulting from this, however, is unsatisfactory since the ballast—used as a kind of abutment behind the tamping blade—does not offer much resistance due to the vibrations.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a method of the type mentioned at the beginning with which it is possible to achieve an improved ballast compaction.

According to the invention, this object is achieved with a method of the specified kind in that, prior to the immersion into the ballast, the hand tamper is detachably connected to an anchor element, fixed to the track and lying opposite with regard to a tamping motion, by means of a fixing member fastened to a tamper section situated between a drive motor and a tamping blade.

As a result of this temporary connection to the track, a non-displaceable abutment is created so that the downward motion of the upper section of the hand tamper causes a forced countermotion of the tamping blade in the direction towards the sleeper. With this, the ballast is positively displaced underneath the sleeper and compacted.

Additional advantages of the invention become apparent from the dependent claims and the drawing description.

The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to embodiments represented in the drawing in which

FIG. 1 shows a view—in the longitudinal direction of the sleeper—of two hand tampers,

FIG. 2 shows a top view and

FIG. 3 a simplified representation of a further variant of the invention.

Hand tampers 1, shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, each have a drive motor 3, arranged in an upper section 2, and handles 4. A central tamper portion 6 provided between the drive motor 3 and a tamping blade 5 is configured as a connecting tube 17, having a longitudinal direction 7, in which an eccentric shaft (not shown) is set in rotation.

Located above a sleeper 8, to be tamped, of a track 9 is an anchor element 10 in the shape of a rail anchor which is detachably connected to a rail 12 by means of a quick fastener 11 and has hooks 13. A fixing member 15 in the shape of a chain or rope, for example, is fastened to the connecting tube 17 on a hook 14 in the half of the tube lying closer to the tamping blade 5.

To execute the tamping method, the hook 14 is connected by means of the fixing member 15 to a hook 13 of the anchor element 10 fixed to the track. In order to achieve an optimal compaction effect, the handle 4 together with the drive motor 3 is moved in a working direction 16 towards the operator. Due to the connection of the central tamper section 6 to the anchor element 10, this produces a forced tamping motion 18 of the tamping blade 5 in the direction towards the adjacent sleeper 8.

Further optimisation of the procedure of tamping the track 9 can be achieved by synchronously employing two hand tampers 1 positioned opposite one another—with regard to the sleeper 8 to be tamped—and each connected to the anchor element 10. As indicated in dash-and-dot lines in FIG. 2, it is also possible, by using four hand tampers 1 each attached to the anchor element 10, to carry out synchronous tamping motions for tamping the sleeper 8.

After the ballast has been sufficiently compacted, the fixing member 15 is detached from the anchor element 10. After attaching the anchor element 10 above the succeeding sleeper, the above-described tamping method is repeated. It is also possible, of course, to fasten the anchor element 10 directly to the sleeper. Moreover, one could also use, for example, a rail clip or the like, connecting the rail 12 to the sleeper 8, as an anchor element for fastening the fixing member 15 to the track 9.

For carrying out the method according to the application, it would alternatively also be possible to directly connect to one another by means of the fixing member 15 only the hooks 14, serving as anchor element 10, of two hand tampers 1 lying opposite one another, (see FIG. 3). For achieving the best possible ballast compaction, the movement of the two hand tampers 1 in the working direction 16 should be carried out largely synchronously. 

1. A method of tamping a track by immersing a hand tamper into ballast, wherein prior to the immersion into the ballast, the hand tamper is detachably connected to an anchor element, fixed to the track and lying opposite with regard to a tamping motion, by means of a fixing member fastened to a tamper section situated between a drive motor and a tamping blade.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein two hand tampers, each serving as an anchor element, are used for tamping, the tampers being connected to one another by means of the fixing member and plunging into the ballast at the same time at an opposite longitudinal side of a sleeper, respectively, with regard to a tamping movement.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a rail anchor detachably connected to the rails is used as an anchor element.
 4. A The method according to claim 3, wherein the anchor element is fastened at an intersection of the sleeper and the rail.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fixing member is fastened to a connecting tube, arranged between the drive motor and a tamping blade, in the half of the tube situated closer to the tamping blade. 